This summer a local racer used unmodified road shoes and road pedals, and he was unpleasantly surprised to find out the weekly mtb practice race was not the usual smooth short-track type course. It was full of hike-a-bike and nasty sections. He crashed alllll night long.

Originally Posted by limba

Michael Rasmussen (and a few other guys) have used modified road shoes for racing.

X10-sl chain
ti spindles for your pedals
weigh your saddle. I bet it's heavier than you think. Try a Speed Needle.
Woodman ti seatpost clamp will probably save ~20g. Those chinese carbon clamps are pretty heavy.
Give 1x10 a try. with an 11-36 you might really enjoy it. Mine is 11-34 and I rarely feel like I need more gears.
Ashima rotors are pretty cheap ($12 at aawyeah.com) and would save about 20g over XX. Even more if you could go with a 140mm rear.

Other than that I'd say you've maxed it out without spending really big bucks. Good luck!

This is about the exact same thing I was about to type up. A rational response and all these are pretty cheap.

While i'm not in the rockies, I've been racing 1x for years and for the courses that I'm on, I rarely long for a big ring and if I needed a granny gear, I'd be faster off the bike. I'm set up with 33 x 12-26 road cassette. If you're running an 11-36, I doubt that you actually need those two chainrings. Pick up a "middle" ring and see what it feels like on the trails. I bet you'll be fine.

HOWEVER....the new Syntace FlatForce stem has a stack height of only 22mm.

I know people don't see it done (I've seen it twice, ever) often, but you can run the stem UNDER a lefty top clamp, taking the place of spacers. I might consider using the FlatForce in conjunction with a Lefty, in time.

HOWEVER....the new Syntace FlatForce stem has a stack height of only 22mm.

I know people don't see it done (I've seen it twice, ever) often, but you can run the stem UNDER a lefty top clamp, taking the place of spacers. I might consider using the FlatForce in conjunction with a Lefty, in time.

If you're going to go through with the idea of buying a Lefty fork you might as well scrap the frame/entire bike and start all over with a Flash. Your frame is "heavy" compared to a Flash, Scott or the new Trek.

If you're going to go through with the idea of buying a Lefty fork you might as well scrap the frame/entire bike and start all over with a Flash. Your frame is "heavy" compared to a Flash, Scott or the new Trek.

Can't ride a Cannondale. 134mm HT plus clamp thickness = HUGE headtube, especially on a 29er. And, I'm on a small. They don't make a Flash carbon in small.

Trek is out, too. Worked for a Trek dealer between jobs, and I've done enough warranty claims on their carbon frames that I don't want to go that route. I love carbon fiber bikes, but taking 200-300g off of their already frail frames was not the best route, in my opinion.

Hmmm, any thought on Scott's 650B Nino bike? Just curious since you're my size or smaller.
The RDO isn't light. I bet a small is 1200g, give or take a couple. They're on sale online everywhere right now too, just in case you missed it.